Ruth Wilson, who stars opposite Johnny Depp in The Lone Ranger, plans to make
a film about her grandfather, Alexander Wilson, the MI6 officer and novelist.

Ruth Wilson won acclaim for her leading role in the ITV adaptation of Jane Eyre and will be shackled to a moving train by her ankles in the forthcoming remake of The Lone Ranger, starring Johnny Depp. The Olivier Award-winning actress is, however, now plotting her most daunting, and personal, challenge.

Mandrake hears that Wilson is planning to make a film about her grandfather, the MI6 officer and novelist Alexander Wilson, who was exposed as a serial bigamist. “I’m thinking about it,” confirms the 30-year-old actress.

Her grandfather wrote more than 20 espionage novels, mostly featuring the spymaster Leonard Wallace and the agent Hugh Shannon – prototypes of M and James Bond. Wilson did not discover that he had four wives until she was 18 and her grandmother, Alison, let her read a memoir that she had begun writing.

Her grandfather, who had seven children, had been arrested for fraud, for theft and for wearing false military honours. He died an undischarged bankrupt in Ealing, west London, in 1963. “What’s incredible is that these women fell for, and were duped by, Alex, but kept his secrets,” Wilson said.

He raised all his children in the Roman Catholic faith and taught them to be “modest, humble, strong-willed, independent and caring”.

Zadie Smith's efforts to make sure that her new novel, NW, is fashionable have proved costly.

The 36-year-old alumna of King’s College, Cambridge, insisted on quoting the lyrics from American rap songs and has been left with a staggering bill. “I don’t know if this sounds entitled, or the complete opposite, but when I finished the book – and they warned me – I realised that including lyrics costs money,” says the author.

“I’m not even going to tell you the amount, but it was unbelievable. They gave me the option of removing the lyrics, but it would mean destroying the book, so I have to pay for them.”

She hopes to persuade one of the rappers, Nas, to reduce his fee. “I’ve written to Nas and I’m hoping I might get off that part of it. I wanted to include the lyrics because they’re in my mind, they’re in the mouths of so many kids, and they’re so beautiful.”